[Correspondence] Body-mass index and all-cause mortality

June 18, 2017

The Lancet 389, 10086 (2017)

Author: Siddhartha S Angadi, Glenn A Gaesser

On the basis of finding that both overweight and obesity were associated with higher all-cause mortality in an Article in The Lancet1 the Global BMI Mortality Collaboration claimed that strategies are needed to “combat the entire spectrum of excess adiposity in many populations”. This assertion assumes that elevated body-mass index (BMI) is the primary cause of the higher mortality rates in overweight and obese adults reported in the Global BMI Mortality Collaboration study. However, this assumption fails to acknowledge the independent contributions of cardiorespiratory fitness and physical activity that substantially influence mortality risk.